Autumnal garden

 I'm in trouble with hubby, I got his saw out again and worked on our red acer, it was just too bulky this summer. It is brutal, but necessary, next year I will reduce the height. I'm not worried it will grow back, I did the same to my olive treea couple of years ago, and Sam does our magnolia tree regularly. 

I have left growth near the base, removed all of the front section. The wildlife camera is attached to the bottom of the trunk.

The pond is looking clearer, I have added a couple of the branches from my red acer, just to soften the area, the cyclamen plant is coming back, I am so pleased with this area, all I do is ensure the water level does not drop. Mum's bird table top stays here, I like the look.

I have removed the runner-beans and tomato plants, I will mulch the two beds, I will sow broad beans next month, the rest of the veg space will lay farrow for the cooler months. 

The garden as always still has colour, the fleabane daisies again is the star, frothy pretty dasies, what's not to like. 

Saturday was dry and sunny, just few cloudy spells, we enjoyed coffee in our sunroom, a perfect spot out of the wind, I did a fair amount of gardening, making it look good for our visitors this coming weekend. I will pack away all my ornaments and the outside seating area next week, always a sad time here. I managed to add some supports to my agapanthus, I have two spots where the plants are getting huge, I hope the supports will hold the blooms up next year, they are evergreen, so it's best to do it now. 

Sunday was cloudy, not too cold, so a bit more time outside, the veg beds are tidy, I am still picking raspberries, I have also dug out my gooseberry, all the leaves have been ate, I have popped it into a growbag to see if I can prevent sawfly, I have always struggled to grow them. I have everything ready for planting my spring bulbs, stored in the greenhouse, I will get them done early November.

My wildlife camera is now just recording Lilly in the garden at night, I have removed all the low branches, I am surprised not to see other cats coming in, we have often seen them, maybe I'm winning that battle. 

Reading

I love this author, I did not enjoy it as much as other plots, a dad takes his teenage daughter to a camp, they learn about it's dark history, silly things are happening, should he worry. Book 79 read this year. 

Another new author to me, he's ex police now taking a role in the private sector, he has a new team to shape, they have no experience in police work, interesting plots. Book 80 read this year.

Second book in series, the team get caught up with MI16, and help to bring down a evil gang, whose crimes include people smuggling, a good story,  sadly I found the teams ability to find everything out a bit too far, I won't read any more titles. Book 81 read this year.

Another new author to me, and a very different storyline, women have been murdered, what's the connection, and why should Travis get involved. This is a brilliant book, I really enjoyed it, I will look for more in this series. Book 82 read this year. 

Another new author to me, a very different plot, with a troubled past a young mum is a great mum to her young family, whilst trying to come to terms with her teenage years. Her husband is unaware of her plight, how will it all end, too many young lives spoilt.  Book 83 read this year.

 

I am a bookworm, I enjoy reading, I am also a fast reader, if I have a good book (two above hit that category) they are hard to put down, we don't watch much TV, never in the day and often not on in evenings, we will watch a programme we like and then turn it off. 

I have sorted my wildlife camera, it's again working through bluetooth and Wifi, I do need to move it as the lower branches move so often throughout a breezy night, which it records. I had clicked a manual button, which wanted a password each time it turned on, which I had not set up, it now been reverted to automatic log on once apt is opened. 

We met with daughter at her end of town on Friday, got a few bits from Dunelm, popped into B&M, we got George's Christmas present and a great idea for Molly, we could not find it locally, so we went online. Will we will give a book with money inside. Then on to B&Q, I got grit for my spring bulb pots, nothing else, passed on the dead reduced plants, hubby was so happy.

I have turned into my mum, whilst out with hubby I uttered the immortal words 'I wish young people would wear more clothes', there is a local trend for ladies to wear leggings? and a short top, often pale pink, almost looks like they are wearing nothing. Me, I've packed away my sandals, always a sad day, so it's socks and trainers now with warmer jumpers.

Ticking off my list.

I filled my slow cooker with dried fruits, chopped apples, brown sugar, spices and coconut oil, cooked on high heat for an hour, low hear for 2 hours.

Let it cool, use clean jars, mincemeat is done for this coming season. The posh jar will be part of a hand made gift. The 4 smaller jars will be stored longer, the bigger jar will be used for a test run, if I can talk hubby into making pies.

This juice was left over, the dark lower section if from the fruit mixed with the spices, the top section coconut oil, which will solidify, normally discarded, this year I will use the lower section to soak my dried fruit for my Christmas cake, the coconut oil I will add to the cake mix, adjusting the butter weight.

Happy with Wednesdays rainfall on Thursday morning just over 20ml, the garden us looking good.

Wednesday we were inside all day, the rain was relentless, it's that time of year when the spice drifts through the house, it was lovely, I was a bit later doing this, I have everything ready for my cakes, I will wait a couple of weeks before baking, we have visitors due and it's best not to have cakes everywhere.

I sat at my desktop doing a final, final check on my 2025 book, any time at this stage of the task is well spent. I read each page again, checked the placement of text boxes and photo's, did a final spell check, now I'm good to go, Thursday morning I had an email 50% off and free shipping, 2025 has been sent to the printers, the free delivery made it cheapest book for a few years.

I need to check my wildlife camera settings, I saw the first nights recordings, since then I have not been able to view later recordings, it keeps asking for a password and then flipping me over to strange page with no password sections, as yet I have not inputted any passwords. 

Today we are meeting daughter for coffee and chat and a look at toys for some hints, hoping to get ahead again this year.

Thinking ahead

My wildlife camera is set up, this view covers the path beside the garage, any cats visiting always come from the back of the garden. I will leave it here for a while, it's set to video anything passing at night only for now. The first night we just saw Lilly in the front section of the garden, I do plan to move it to the back section at some point.

I did say I had enough spring bulbs, I was thinking about my garden pots, I have previously purchased some white daffodils, but not paperwhites which I love, the other pack can go in the garden pots. Both of these are for inside, I'm giving up on trying to regrow amaryllis bulbs.

 

On our recent trip to my favourite garden centre, we decided to not stop for coffee, instead coming home to hubbys home made scones with cream.

I have been busy with my 2025 blog book, all my post are in the book, they look neat and tidy, all I now need to do is a final read through and do a spell check. I have already received an email with the promise of Black Friday discounts, coming soon. 

I was extremely good at the garden centre, they had lovely plants, we did have a good look, I don't have much space, so I passed on them all. Hubby is going to redo his front garden next year, so there will be a couple of plants I can use. I also did a quick walk through their Christmas section, again nothing I liked. We did get jams and pickles, we both prefer their brands.

We have enjoyed the sunny warm days this week, quite unexpected at this time of year, sat in our sunroom together, it has been the most fantastic addition to our garden space. It's pouring with rain today. 

I have all the ingredients to make mincemeat again this year, the slow cooker does all the work, hubby does like to use homemade in his pies. I have gathered everything for Christmas cakes, I'm making one cake, slightly smaller just for us, I will make a batch of cakes muffin size for daughter and brother, hopefully with a few spare for gifts.

Whose out there

I dug out nerine bulbs from my side bed a while ago, they had spread, I popped them into a pot, my plan was to plant them behind my daisies once the foliage died back. I'm surprised to see some blooms, one already cut and two more buds.

I am cutting back the two vegetable beds a bit at a time, I have leaf mulch to spread over both beds, the leaves have not broken down enough, which won't matter as the worms will do the job. Both beds have net around to stop Lilly using the space, so the leaves should not blow around. I did pick loads of green tomatoes, these will ripen in the paper bags

I've had an early birthday gift from hubby, I have wanted a wildlife camera for ages, just to see who is visiting our garden, hubby has been resisting, this was purchased in an effort to cheer me up, just for fun.

I can do very little outside before backache starts, I try and get things done, hubby will help, but already he is doing loads of things I can't do, both inside and out has been set out for ease as we get older, which is certainly helping me now. 

I have not done any crafting, I moved my work basket from beside my chair, a certain cat called Lilly was sleeping in there, she is a big cat and my knitting was getting messy. I have suggested to hubby I look for a basket with a lid, which could protect my stuff.

Sunday we had late lunch at a local pub, a good old fashioned Sunday roast, which we both enjoyed, we strolled around Portchester castle afterwards, it was a warm sunny day. On the whole it's been a relaxing weekend, the grandchildren were busy so we did not see them, other than video call. I am feeling slightly more upbeat, it's no use to wallow in selfpity, I've just finished a course of antibiotics, which has helped.

12 photos one day

 

I've seen this on another blog, I did ask if I could steal it.

It does sum up my life, most days are much the same, 

I'm a home bird, happiest when I have a book to read, 

or some crafting to do. 

I have had the one medical procedure I was dreading, I can say it was as bad as I expected, the only bright side was how quickly it was done, having an upper GI endoscopy (tube down your throat into your stomach) has left me with a raw throat, and at least one answer to my ill's, another test revealed more, I now have an 5 week wait for an ultrasound, which is slightly better than 8 weeks quoted.

I have no desire to go anywhere or do much, I'm taking pain relief every day, its bringing me down, I've never felt so uncomfortable, not able to stand, sit or even relax in bed, and until the ultrasound no way of knowing the full causes, my doctor thinks I  have multiple issues, even going through cancer and chemo was better than this, then I had a plan, a goal, now everything is in limbo. I'm just irritable and cranky.

September round up

 Another brilliant month, small spend on fabric, rest was for the garden, plus houseplants, my bulbs arrived, I ordered and paid for them ages ago.

14 Books read this month

We have made a few purchases this month, the new Christmas tree was half price, we also needed a new cutlery set, ours had tarnished so much and would not clean, we passed the old set on. No clothes for either of us, just normal food shopping, we are not stocking up on items, we keep a decent larder already. 

Out garden harvest are now almost over, it was a poor season this summer, I do have loads of green tomatoes, which I have popped into paper bags, they should all ripen over time. No kitchen waste at all, we are true masters of portion size. 

Just us

I have an itch to sew, I will require a small table cloth for under my new tree this year, these Christmas fabrics are not new, some I have had for years. I just need to decide on what design for my patchwork, do I keep it simple or go all out. I have everything except some thinner wadding.

We popped to B&Q, hubby required a few bits, I looked at the dead plants, clearance section. I was not looking for a tiny hosta, but this one came home with me, half price, just £6.

 A meeting with Kates boss goes horribly wrong, he is now missing and Kate can't tell anyone what has happened, chasing people smugglers whilst keeping on top of everything, how can she resolve everything. Book 76 read this year.

Kates work and life is fallen apart, she is struggling to find answers, the people she needs to talk to are hiding, terrified, who can she trust. Book 77 read this year.

Kate is newly promoted to DCI, she has two capable teams on her serious crime investigations, she has more time to catch Williams murderer, but are they aware of her actions. This set of 5 books were a great read, there are two other series from this author, but for now I want to come away from police detectives. Book 78 read this year.

We had a quiet weekend, we were both tired, I have a cold, along with my other issues it has dragged me back down, this week I have more tests, one I am really not looking forward to, needs must. I have tried to enjoy the last of the warm sunny days, we are due a week of rain, brilliant for the garden, no so good for the soul.

Daughter is also unwell, so a quiet time for everyone, we did Saturday night bedtime, they had watched a film together and were all ready to go to bed. We only watched a small part of Strickly come dancing, I'm really not sure of the new presenters, hubby feels the same, but Strickly has been a huge part of our Saturday nights for years.

Along the coast

 The shoreline in Southsea, Portsmouth

 is being rebuilt, the long section from Clarence pier has been done, it looks fantastic, here looking back towards the pier. They reused the historic shelters mixed with loads of modern seating areas.

We saw a Navy ship (I'm female so I don't know what type), the Isle of Wright ferry and a private 'boat' (ditto), the hovercraft also passes through here as well.

The wide walkways and all the huge rocks are much nicer.

One of the three towers in the Solent, built to protect Portsmouth harbour.

From the main pier, 

Our lunchtime view.

We sat by the shore to eat, fish and chips, 

perfect location on a bright warm day.

The section of beach by the main pier is closed off, they are very close to finishing the huge upgrade, it is a walk we have done often, so we can't wait until it's open. Having a sunny day will always help, there were many people walking but it did not feel busy, we enjoyed watching young children on scooters and bikes all playing safely. 

Our visitor is in London for a short visit, and then back home to Spain, we are home alone until next month, when hubby's sister and husband come to stay. Having dry weather helped so much, we were able to pop out and visit places, we have many tourist spots, we try and avoid the busy places. 

Locally

We popped on the hill above Portsmouth just on the edge of our village, on Thursday, lovely views over the city and coast with an interesting cloudy sky.

Zooming in towards Portchester castle and the Spinnaker Tower. 

Down by the shore, now part of King Charles 111 coastal path.

I adore Portchester castle. 

Outside.

Inside.

St Mary's church. 

It's only when we see our local views through the eyes of a visitor, in this case from Spain, do you realise the beauty of where we live.

Thursday we stayed local, it helps it was a dry sunny day. Portchester castle is always a great spot to visit, beside the waters edge, across from Portsmouth docks. We stopped in our local pub, we don't go there often enough. Today we are going to the historic part of Portsmouth. 

Cool stitching

 Long term readers will know my favourite craft has always been cross stitch, I rarely purchase kits, preferring to find designs to use with my extensive collection of silks (floss). I love to stitch collections of smaller designs to look like patchwork, often making huge pieces. 

This is my latest project, I have not done much in the recent heatwave, it's another mix-up of designs, so I do need to concentrate, it can grow quickly, I do work on each band individually, which keeps it simpler.

Having finished the top outer border, I have moved my work and wrapped some around the top bar. I am working on the outer lines, towards the placement of the middle stars, once I have the length with lots of counting and checking, I can do the next bigger design row.

This is a long term project, this outer border is the most boring bit, once its done I can have fun in the centre, at this time I have not considered how to fill the space, here is just under half the size of the project. This is my biggest project to date, I'm using 32 cwt linen, it's the last big piece with smaller holes, in my stash I have plenty of aider with bigger holes.

I have picked up my knitted blanket again, I am going to make it bigger and hope to use it on my chair in the sunroom, the two little ones always sit on my chair, they can be messy, so the blanket will help keep the cream fabric clean. I have also pulled out more yarn to knit socks, which I don't really need, I do love knitting them, they are simple and lightweight, I have memorised the pattern after making so many. I have also been looking at my stash of cotton fat quarters (fabric squares), I fancy doing some patchwork, not hexagons, I still have some left from my sewing machine cover. I am also thinking of making some needle felting Christmas ornaments, I have everything I need.

The past few days have been sorting inside, I have done some work in the garden, we are ready for our visitor, we are not making plans we can decide where to go once Paula has inputted what she wishes to do. I have previously visited family and spent days doing things I did not want, so we will wait and plan together. 

This warm sunny weather is very welcome, we have our morning coffee in our sunroom, we face the sun keeping us warm, we are protected from any breeze, it's a perfect spot, which we love.

Reading

I had a small harvest today, the potatoes,  carrots and runner beans we had for lunch, the raspberries we ate with ice cream. Tomatoes were chopped and frozen. My cut flowers bags suffered in the hot summer, I'm surprised to have any to cut.

Another book in the DCI Pat Lennon team, a young teenager is murdered, then a second girl is found, they are linked but how? A clever plot into a world the police and myself did not know, no super heroic stuff, just peeling away layers, I do enjoy these characters created in these books. Book 71 read this year. 

Two timelines, one where she is recovering from a head wound after a suspected burglary, she is in a rehab centre, trying to peirce things together, and her story up to the shooting, I always love this author. Book 72 read this year.

This story is happening around the village of cheddar, including the world famous gorge, sheep are slaughtered, a man attacked and a girl abducted, are they linked and how, a realistic plot of police work, how things can be missed, how breaks happen with the smallest of information. Book 73 read this year.

Another new author for me, set in Stoke on Trent, not a place I have visited, a clever plot along side her own story, I guessed just before half way one one the twist, and later the murderer, neither spoilt the plot, the ending is open, there are other books in this series.  Book 74 read this year.

Second book in the series, whilst investigating a double murder, Kate is also hunting dirty police, officers with higher rank than her, again I guessed the first twist, it did not spoil the plot. Book 75 read this year. 

Saturday was another grey day, we had rain again overnight, I popped to sit with Will and George whilst Molly went to a birthday party, Will told me about his recent school trip, a couple of days away, he missed home at bedtime but enjoyed the rest. Daughter has had more alarms added to her house, alerts on the front door and Georges bedroom window, George is very quick to escape if he can, he can now already master the dead lock previously fitted to her door. There are flood alerts under the sinks in each of the bathrooms, he has a fascination with water and has flooded the family bathroom a few times.

Later we went out for a meal with daughter to celebrate our 40 year anniversary and her recent birthday, we ate at a local Thai restaurant, it was our first time, daughter had been before, we caught the bus in and taxi home, we were back just before 10pm.

We needed to tidy our spare room, and empty the wardrobe space, we have a visitor later this week, it is good to sort inside the wardrobe as it had become a dumping ground for bits, they have now found homes or will be sent to charity shop. I did put the new Christmas tree together to ensure it was all OK, it's now packed into the attic.

It's really good to see everyone's post on my feed again, the side bar on my blog is not updating, I can live with that, plenty of catching up to do.